and
"Teachers must become comfortable as co-learners with their students and with colleagues around the world. Today it is less about staying ahead and more about moving ahead as members of dynamic learning communities. The digital-age teaching professional must demonstrate a vision of technology infusion and develop the technology skills of others. These are the hallmarks of the new education leader."
Discuss these standards as a team and see how you would rate yourselves and your team- using emergent, intermediate, or advanced as the benchmarks.
Then as individuals come here and share which of these standards will require the biggest shift by educators and why. Also, what other insights do you glean from these standards?
wdarga
Well...I've thought about this a bit. If we look at our team, I think we are in the intermediate zone for the most part...on some things even advanced. But, if we look at our whole staff, I would argue that while some are advanced many more, if not most, are emergent. These are some pretty tough bars to meet. I agree with your assessment Wendy- I'm responding in pink to your points so as not to make this page huge and lose the parts of the conversation. Katie Many of the staff are at the emergent level....but possibly more important is the openness that this staff would have to merging technology into the amazing teaching that is already going on. WIth motivation and a passion for teaching and learning the staff could move into the more advanced technology standards...but I think they will need to first engage themselves to embrace technology and see that it really makes a difference for kids. Powerful learning is a motivator for kids AND staff. Sandy
I'm thinking the biggest shift would be #2--Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. Here are some reasons:
1. It's major huge differentiation. With the #s of students we have--big undertaking. Yep, HUGE!
2. It requires enormous personal learning and research to do it well. Look at what we are immersed in here...Yes- and we are doing this all outside of a full work week on our own time!
3. It requires blending our existing content demands with technology based instruction.
4. The current assessment pieces that "count"--MEAP, our own common assessments, etc. are not built this way.
5. Simple supply and demand...do we have enough tech resources do be able to make this shift? And can we keep up?
6. TTT---Time, Training and Trust.
permalink
Posted Yesterday 8:51 pm
When I was reading through the list I wrote some notes to myself, the first being; Wow, high expectations for staff regarding digital competency (#4); how to best implement teacher learning with everything else going on in the building?
My other thought was to wonder how to make implementation of these standards less threatening to teachers who are in the emergent category. It is such a delicate balance between bringing people to the table and not overwhelming them with information so that they end up shutting down because they feel like such a failure at "all this newfangled stuff". We don't want them to dismiss these shifts as unimportant and not related to their jobs so they can just turn around and shut the door and keep teaching in the manner they have enjoyed for years where they have probably enjoyed success.
Another thing I want to point out is that I don't believe it is only old teachers who would feel this way. Some would have the feeling I've just described above, but younger teachers are dealing with their own stresses; working on managing their new classrooms, time, curriculum, life changes and they can be just as overwhelmed. Like I mentioned online, we can't assume younger generations know how to effectively use technology just because they are digital natives. I agree and I'm sitting here with my SIP/PLC hat on here. Our staff WANTS tech training. But, do they really know what it is they want? I'm not so sure. What we might want to think about is using a tool to determine what it is that folks are interested in. I think many are simply unaware of what is available and some might actually be afraid to find out!! I remember a model from an undergrad class...think of a continuum. We start out unconsicously incompetent (we don't know what we don't know), move into conscious incompetence (aware of what we don't know), move into conscious competence (very aware of what we do...paying specific attention to detail) and finally to unconscious competence (we operate without even thinking about it). And, we move back and forth given what we are working on...I know I have been flying back and forth since school started because of the switch I've made. I was living in the last step for the last few years...my work was not intellectually difficult for me at all because I had mastered the big stuff--not the case anymore! But, the point here is to find out. We are all over the place in our skill and understanding. And, the other big question is WHEN do we do this? Where do we find the time? Wendy
I would love to expand the conversation about "do they really know what it is they want" because it is easy to say, We need more training! but it is harder to provide a one size fits all type training day. Even thinking about the MyRCS stuff; there will be those that can play around with it and be happy without training, those that just need to see a few things in order to feel confident about the tool and those that will need step by step, repetitive instruction; That is to be expected; offering drop in on your prep and after school training is a small solution; those that don't need/want training aren't forced to attend, and those that just need a little demo will be fine; it still isn't enough for those who need more time to be comfortable. And we really shouldn't expect our staff to give up their time for a district initiative; if the districe is expecting everyone to utilize this portal, then time needs to be dedicated to training staff that isn't outside of the regular work day. I think people are happy to attend a few after-school trainings, like Whiteboard Wednesday, but our district needs to step up to the plate for these all-encompassing initiatives. Another thought; how do we schedule tech into pd making sure that we don't waste time for those who are pretty tech-competent, hit those who are hovering in the middle and adequately support those who are taking the first steps into techie-dom. BECAUSE, as Wendy points out, many don't even know what it is they need to know! Yes, I agree- implementing some sort of tool to determine where the staff stands will be important. Maybe we should draft a survey using the competencies outlined in the ISTE's for teachers and give a self rating (0-5) standard...BUT it will also be important to figure out what direction our district wants us to move towards too...sorry for the stream of conscious thought process, but I am feeling so guilty that I have basically abandoned this project since Dec. 18!!! I'll stop for now. Katie
I made big stars all over the Visionary Leadership portion for the Administrators; I believe that is the fundamental key to this whole she-bang. I also starred "ensure effective practice in the study of technology and its infusion across the curriculum" (digital-age learning culture) as another key point.
I wonder; how are schools going to realistically integrate and achieve true success with these standards? Everyone's plates are overflowing and there is no easing up on anything else that I can see. To me, it seems like there are all these independent satellite think tanks scrambling to promote best practices in education; with data collection and reporting and standards and technology and funding and SIP and PLC and going green and safety and on and on and on and no one is getting everyone together to say- Hey! We all have things that need to be attended to in education. How can we expect this group of people to take all this on alone, in individual buildings/districts and without adequate support? How can we support our each other with all these initiatives because expecting schools to have success implementing all these expectations is rather daunting. We may want to run and hide, but we can't. Where is the collaborative effort? I believe we are on to something here, participating in the PLP. Something that can and will be used within our profession. And then; what kind of work force would we honestly need to do all the business involved with educating children? Then that gets me on a whole other thinking topic about education on other countries and who is most successful and why are they successful; but I am going to leave that topic alone for today. I need to get cooking for tomorrow....Katie
Rachel: While reading the Administrator's ISTE's, I am certainly drawn to visionary leadership. The shift necessary to execute visionary leadership is prefaced by not only an understanding of, but embracing of 2-5 ( Digital-Age Learning Culture,Excellence in Professional Practice,Systemic Improvement and Digital Citizenship.)
This is tremendously exciting to me, but can appear to be a daunting task, when I consider many administrative colleagues are uncomfortable with some of the basic technology offered to us. How will we be visionary leaders in our school if we are not modeling it ourselves? We must make time to develop on our individual learning curves, with regard to these standards, if we are to become proficient leaders. That requires not only a shift in thinking by the individual, but a shift in thinking by our superintendents and others, to set aside specific chunks of time to develop these proficiencies.
"Teachers must become comfortable as co-learners with their students and with colleagues around the world. Today it is less about staying ahead and more about moving ahead as members of dynamic learning communities. The digital-age teaching professional must demonstrate a vision of technology infusion and develop the technology skills of others. These are the hallmarks of the new education leader."
—Don Knezek, ISTE CEO, 2008
Take a look at the new NETS for teachers or for administrators
Discuss these standards as a team and see how you would rate yourselves and your team- using emergent, intermediate, or advanced as the benchmarks.
Then as individuals come here and share which of these standards will require the biggest shift by educators and why. Also, what other insights do you glean from these standards?
wdarga
Well...I've thought about this a bit. If we look at our team, I think we are in the intermediate zone for the most part...on some things even advanced. But, if we look at our whole staff, I would argue that while some are advanced many more, if not most, are emergent. These are some pretty tough bars to meet. I agree with your assessment Wendy- I'm responding in pink to your points so as not to make this page huge and lose the parts of the conversation. Katie Many of the staff are at the emergent level....but possibly more important is the openness that this staff would have to merging technology into the amazing teaching that is already going on. WIth motivation and a passion for teaching and learning the staff could move into the more advanced technology standards...but I think they will need to first engage themselves to embrace technology and see that it really makes a difference for kids. Powerful learning is a motivator for kids AND staff. Sandy
I'm thinking the biggest shift would be #2--Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. Here are some reasons:
1. It's major huge differentiation. With the #s of students we have--big undertaking. Yep, HUGE!
2. It requires enormous personal learning and research to do it well. Look at what we are immersed in here...Yes- and we are doing this all outside of a full work week on our own time!
3. It requires blending our existing content demands with technology based instruction.
4. The current assessment pieces that "count"--MEAP, our own common assessments, etc. are not built this way.
5. Simple supply and demand...do we have enough tech resources do be able to make this shift? And can we keep up?
6. TTT---Time, Training and Trust.
When I was reading through the list I wrote some notes to myself, the first being; Wow, high expectations for staff regarding digital competency (#4); how to best implement teacher learning with everything else going on in the building?
My other thought was to wonder how to make implementation of these standards less threatening to teachers who are in the emergent category. It is such a delicate balance between bringing people to the table and not overwhelming them with information so that they end up shutting down because they feel like such a failure at "all this newfangled stuff". We don't want them to dismiss these shifts as unimportant and not related to their jobs so they can just turn around and shut the door and keep teaching in the manner they have enjoyed for years where they have probably enjoyed success.
Another thing I want to point out is that I don't believe it is only old teachers who would feel this way. Some would have the feeling I've just described above, but younger teachers are dealing with their own stresses; working on managing their new classrooms, time, curriculum, life changes and they can be just as overwhelmed. Like I mentioned online, we can't assume younger generations know how to effectively use technology just because they are digital natives.
I agree and I'm sitting here with my SIP/PLC hat on here. Our staff WANTS tech training. But, do they really know what it is they want? I'm not so sure. What we might want to think about is using a tool to determine what it is that folks are interested in. I think many are simply unaware of what is available and some might actually be afraid to find out!! I remember a model from an undergrad class...think of a continuum. We start out unconsicously incompetent (we don't know what we don't know), move into conscious incompetence (aware of what we don't know), move into conscious competence (very aware of what we do...paying specific attention to detail) and finally to unconscious competence (we operate without even thinking about it). And, we move back and forth given what we are working on...I know I have been flying back and forth since school started because of the switch I've made. I was living in the last step for the last few years...my work was not intellectually difficult for me at all because I had mastered the big stuff--not the case anymore! But, the point here is to find out. We are all over the place in our skill and understanding. And, the other big question is WHEN do we do this? Where do we find the time? Wendy
I would love to expand the conversation about "do they really know what it is they want" because it is easy to say, We need more training! but it is harder to provide a one size fits all type training day. Even thinking about the MyRCS stuff; there will be those that can play around with it and be happy without training, those that just need to see a few things in order to feel confident about the tool and those that will need step by step, repetitive instruction; That is to be expected; offering drop in on your prep and after school training is a small solution; those that don't need/want training aren't forced to attend, and those that just need a little demo will be fine; it still isn't enough for those who need more time to be comfortable. And we really shouldn't expect our staff to give up their time for a district initiative; if the districe is expecting everyone to utilize this portal, then time needs to be dedicated to training staff that isn't outside of the regular work day. I think people are happy to attend a few after-school trainings, like Whiteboard Wednesday, but our district needs to step up to the plate for these all-encompassing initiatives. Another thought; how do we schedule tech into pd making sure that we don't waste time for those who are pretty tech-competent, hit those who are hovering in the middle and adequately support those who are taking the first steps into techie-dom. BECAUSE, as Wendy points out, many don't even know what it is they need to know! Yes, I agree- implementing some sort of tool to determine where the staff stands will be important. Maybe we should draft a survey using the competencies outlined in the ISTE's for teachers and give a self rating (0-5) standard...BUT it will also be important to figure out what direction our district wants us to move towards too...sorry for the stream of conscious thought process, but I am feeling so guilty that I have basically abandoned this project since Dec. 18!!! I'll stop for now. Katie
I made big stars all over the Visionary Leadership portion for the Administrators; I believe that is the fundamental key to this whole she-bang. I also starred "ensure effective practice in the study of technology and its infusion across the curriculum" (digital-age learning culture) as another key point.
I wonder; how are schools going to realistically integrate and achieve true success with these standards? Everyone's plates are overflowing and there is no easing up on anything else that I can see. To me, it seems like there are all these independent satellite think tanks scrambling to promote best practices in education; with data collection and reporting and standards and technology and funding and SIP and PLC and going green and safety and on and on and on and no one is getting everyone together to say- Hey! We all have things that need to be attended to in education. How can we expect this group of people to take all this on alone, in individual buildings/districts and without adequate support? How can we support our each other with all these initiatives because expecting schools to have success implementing all these expectations is rather daunting. We may want to run and hide, but we can't. Where is the collaborative effort? I believe we are on to something here, participating in the PLP. Something that can and will be used within our profession. And then; what kind of work force would we honestly need to do all the business involved with educating children? Then that gets me on a whole other thinking topic about education on other countries and who is most successful and why are they successful; but I am going to leave that topic alone for today. I need to get cooking for tomorrow....Katie
Rachel: While reading the Administrator's ISTE's, I am certainly drawn to visionary leadership. The shift necessary to execute visionary leadership is prefaced by not only an understanding of, but embracing of 2-5 ( Digital-Age Learning Culture,Excellence in Professional Practice,Systemic Improvement and Digital Citizenship.)
This is tremendously exciting to me, but can appear to be a daunting task, when I consider many administrative colleagues are uncomfortable with some of the basic technology offered to us. How will we be visionary leaders in our school if we are not modeling it ourselves? We must make time to develop on our individual learning curves, with regard to these standards, if we are to become proficient leaders. That requires not only a shift in thinking by the individual, but a shift in thinking by our superintendents and others, to set aside specific chunks of time to develop these proficiencies.